Mushfens

The Mushfens are a large and fertile swampy areay south of the Yondabakari River. They streach from the south-westernmost tip of Varisia all the way to the Fenwall Mountains in the east.1 Created by the earth-shattering cataclysm following Earthfall, prior it was part of the ancient Thassilonian realm of Eurythnia and land-locked. The ensuing earthquakes and tidal waves caused the majority of that kingdom to sink below the waters of the Varisian Gulf. Over the course of millennia, the drastic lowering of the countryside, combined with its new proximity to the sea turned the land into the swamp it is today.2

Flora & Fauna

The Mushfens are known to be home to a variety of unpleasant denizens including the marsh giants, boggards, and their monstrous supposed-ancestors, the mobogo, to name but a few. 3

Gnome travelers frequent the area, and have been known to help the lost and the injured on occasion. In addition, a local group of rangers have begun patrolling the area in search of a green dragon believed to have taken up residence.

Black dragons and the Mushfens

Being the largest swamp in all of Avistan, the marsh-dwelling black dragons should be abundant in the Mushfens; strangely, the opposite is the case. These wyrms have avoided this part of Varisia for thousands of years, remembering a time when the runelords of Thassilon used powerful magics to enslave their ancestors, forcing them toil as guardians, or even worse, common laborers. When that ancient empire collapsed after Earthfall, the surviving black dragons fled, vowing never to return. The fact that the Mushfens didn’t exist as a swamp in those ancient days does not change their minds; in fact, reminding them of this fact will elicit a distinctly negative response from any black dragon.2

Places of Interest

Green Reef. Also known as the Greenrust Reef, this large rock outcropping is a common nautical reference point along the southern coast of the Mushfens.4

The Lady’s Light. An enormous statue located on the end of a peninsula in the southwestern-most reaches of Varisia’s Mushfens. Almost 200 feet in height, the statue resembles a woman in flowing robes with one breast bared, holding a staff aloft. A bright light shines from the staff’s tip at regular intervals, often making it the first thing that ships entering Varisian waters see. 5

The Sunken Queen. The Mushfens conceal one of the most unique Thassilonian ruins in all of Varisia, the Sunken Queen. This pyramid is a remnant of ancient Eurythnia and was built by the runelord Sorshen to house the Everdawn Pool. Like much of the realm of Eurythnia, with the fall of Thassilon, the Sunken Queen slipped into the Mushfens and now rests at a canted angle among the mire. 6